The Effects of Immigration on NHS Waiting Times

Osea Giuntella, Catia Nicodemo and Carlos Vargas Silva (carlos.vargas-silva@compas.ox.ac.uk)
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Carlos Vargas Silva: University of Oxford, Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS)
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Carlos Vargas-Silva

No XREAP2017-13, Working Papers from Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP)

Abstract: This paper analyzes the effects of immigration on waiting times for the National Health Service (NHS) in England. Linking administrative records from Hospital Episode Statistics (2003-2012) with immigration data drawn from the UK Labour Force Survey, we find that immigration reduced waiting times for outpatient referrals and did not have significant effects on waiting times in accident and emergency departments (A&E) and elective care. The reduction in outpatient waiting times can be explained by the fact that immigration increases natives’ internal mobility and that immigrants tend to be healthier than natives who move to different areas. Conversely, we observe higher outpatient waiting times in places to which native internal migrants have moved. Finally, we find evidence that immigration increased waiting times for outpatient referrals in more deprived areas outside of London. The increase in average waiting times in more deprived areas is concentrated in the years immediately following the 2004 EU enlargement and disappears in the medium term (e.g., 3 to 4 years).

Keywords: Immigration; waiting times; NHS; access to health care; welfare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 J61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 78 pages
Date: 2017-12, Revised 2017-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-hea, nep-int and nep-mig
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http://www.xreap.cat/RePEc/xrp/pdf/XREAP2017-13.pdf First version, 2017 (application/pdf)
http://www.xreap.cat/RePEc/xrp/pdf/XREAP2017-13.pdf Revised version, 2017 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The effects of immigration on NHS waiting times (2018)
Working Paper: The Effects of Immigration on NHS Waiting Times (2015)
Working Paper: The Effects of Immigration on NHS Waiting Times (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:xrp:wpaper:xreap2017-13

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